(Newser)
–
The mother of a 5-year-old North Carolina girl found dead appeared in court yesterday and was charged with human trafficking and felony abuse. Antoinette Davis, 25, delivered daughter Shaniya to a man "with the intent that she be held in sexual servitude," according to court documents. Davis was calm during a five-minute court appearance in Fayetteville, requested a court-appointed attorney and did not enter a plea.

Mario Andrette McNeill, 29, has been charged with kidnapping in the case. He was caught on a hotel videotape carrying Shaniya, according to police. The little girl, the result of a "one-night stand," according to dad Bradley Lockhart, had gone to live with her mother for the first time only last month, reports CBS News. "I should have never let her go there," Lockhart said. The kindergartner was "an amazing, breathtaking individual," said Lockhart's sister, who helped raise Shaniya.

Netstorm & dolphin, please mull over the words "justice" and "revenge". And think about innocent until proven guilty. The death penalty has very little to do with the perpetrators. It speaks volumes about the society who condone it. Civilised societies need to have SOME things that they JUST DON'T DO - no matter what some of its sick or deranged citizens may do. Do some research on why it is that many societies who do NOT have the death penalty have less violent crime than you do. Blind rage is not a good way of agitating for policies. Netstorm and dolphin's apparent call for society to actually inflict cruel and unusual punishment on a suspect (or any prisoner) is very VERY sick (and, I want to believe, not actually what you truly believe).

lindamae

Nov 19, 2009 6:21 AM CST

Can anyone imagine the agony this child faced prior to her death? Sex with children is winked at in the US. It's time to really get serious. The 2 jokes Letterman told about Palin's 14 year old daughter have been supported by thousands who claim she had no sense of humor when she spoke out. We can't have it both ways. We either state that sex between an adult and a child is wrong or we make it legal so our government can control it. We are caught up in the Lolita mystique - and children are being raped and murdered because of it. Child porn is a big industry. This story is just another one of millions - why don't we demand things change? The poor baby.